Violin Forum/Message Board

[Jack Rushing]

I doubt if I could count them anyway, but what is the desired number

of vibrations per second, one should aim for, when practicing vibrato?

Which method produces the fastest one, The finger, the wrist or the arm?

or is fastest, not always the best?

[Shirley]

Good morning, Jack! Vibrato is a tricky subject - usually one's vibrato speed depends on the music - long, sad notes? Slow vibrato. Happy? Faster. Also, vibrato is a very personal thing - some of the greats used what today we consider too much. All this vibratoing began with Fritz Keisler an the early years of the last century. Before that, there was very little vibrato used, I understand.

There are also differences of opinion concerning which method is best for producing vibrato - the finger vibrato is seldom used now, I believe, though it is still out there. The arm vibrato was the big thing about 40 years ago, and while it is still widely used, often by violists as well as violinists, some people consider the hand/wrist vibrato to give greater conctrol.

HOWEVER, most vibratos are combinations of at least the wrist and arm vibratoes. While practicing, begin with a slow vibrato, and get faster as you get better. Then it will all be at your fingertips! (Is that a pun?) GOOD LUCK!! SHirley

[Jack Rushing]

Shirley, Thank you for the most informative reply. I do find vibrato hard
and tricky. The best I can tell, I am using the finger method. I started off
like that, and it is hard to change. It seems like I might be playing it a
little too fast, no matter how slow the piece of music. I Will try practicing,
using a little more wrist, to see if I can slow it down a bit.

[Shirley]

Jack - just how do you do finger vibrato? I think I've seen it in on video instruction presentation, but it seemed diffficult - just flattening out the first joints of ones fingers toward the scroll (moving in the same direction as other vibrato), and then back again. Is this the finger vibrato that you use?

You repair violins, too? Plus fish and golf? You ARE multitallented!

Shirley

[Jack Rushing]

The first three fingers, with their natural bend, come straight down on
top of the string, with just a slight tilt toward the scroll. I can't do this with the little finger. It is flatter, and harder to do vibrato with.

I find that vibrato is easier for me if my elbow is in position, where I can
look down through the c bout and see about half of the back of my
forearm.
This probably sounds confusing, and, not the correct way, but that's how
I do it at the present time. I am open for any, and all suggestions.

[Becky]

just a word of advice...don't count the times you move per second or minute. A common problem I had (and I see in some of my students) is getting caught up in how fast to move or how many moves in a certain time span. A good way to practice vibrato is to turn on the metronome and move slow, maybe 2x per click, then double it to 4x per click. Keep doubling until you can't double and just ignore the click and play vibrato. It's okay to practice keeping track of how many moves within a certain time span (it can aid in producing an even vibrato), but once your hand knows what to do, forget about keeping count of how many times you're moving. You have to let go of that and just let yourself play vibrato. Listen to other's vibratos. Play what you hear in your head. If you are wrapped up in how many times to move your finger/hand/wrist/arm, you'll play like a robot. It sounds mechanical and lacks the warmth and human touch a vibrato should have.
Hope that made sense...

Personally, I don't like arm vibrato--I've heard of too many violinists developing arthitis or tendonitis from the arm vibrato. Off hand I can't think of any famous violinists who use an arm vibrato (but I do remember reading about at least one), and of the non-famous violinists I've heard, those who used an arm vibrato had the worst vibratos.
A finger vibrato seems to give you less control and expression.
I like wrist, but the motion seems to come from the hand (not the wrist). I have one student who moves her wrist like crazy while trying to do vibrato and that is not the kind of vibrato I'm promoting. My personal preference would go in the wrist category, but it's more like the hand moving back and forth pivoting on the wrist. Of course, depending on the type of sound I want, sometimes my vibrato is just a finger and sometimes my arm moves. It's a lot easier to demonstrate than to put into words. If you have the opportunity to go to an orchestral concert, watch a concert on tv, or borrow a video from the library or rental store, it might benefit you to do so and observe how the violinists do their vibratos. You can learn a lot from observation.

[Jack Rushing]

Yes, Thank you both. I have several DVDs, and watch the old time greats
on youtube just about every night. And, not long ago attended the concerts
here, of Peter Zazofsky and Timothy Fain. They just about all seem to be
using wrist vibrato. Same as with the older players, a few with a little arm
motion added in. All except Mischa Elman. I don't know what he was using. it appeared to me he had all the fingers flat on the strings. But, It sounded
great, and he plays " Humoresque " as good as I have ever heard it.
A beautiful tone.